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Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Wicked Disregard, written by Barbara Ann Derksen, is book 3 in the Finder's Keepers Mystery.Christine's parents were murdered at the age of 5. At that time she went to live with her aunt and uncle in Texas and her name was changed. She is now back in Winnipeg, working as an investigator specializing in finding missing children, along with her service dog Chief. In this story she goes back to her father's company and meets the people in charge and has to make the decision if she will take over the company. She also is having her parents home remodeled to move “back home”. She rents office space from Jeremy Goodman, whom her uncle hired to watch out for her and the son of her attorney. Someone has put a hit on Christine and she gets shot and hospitalized. As this is happening it is revealed that the case she is working on, and the one Jeremy is working on, are connected. Together they work on the case to find out who wants her dead and who is running the child prostitution ring.Jeremy and his father are very important people in her life and have strong Christian faith. While in the hospital, Jeremy helps Christine accept the Lord and he offers to help her with her Christian walk.

I really like this book. I wish I had known it was the third in the series when I decided to read it. But the author does a good job of filling in so it was a good stand alone book as well. There is a lot of suspense throughout the entire story. The topic of child pornography is not a pleasant one. But the book does not go into deep detail and with all the other things taking place in the story it is easy to get wrapped up in it. I found it hard to put the book down it was so good! I like that it is a Christian story. However, it is done in such a way it would not offend anyone.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Living and Breathing the Psalms is
a raw and very personal prayer journey. Here are the Old Covenant prayers,
poems and songs to the Lord, reframed through intimacy and relationship with
each member of the Trinity. From this perspective the Psalms break open in a
simple, fresh and dynamic way. Key life themes lie in these ancient songs of
worship, at the very heart of Old Covenant experience, belief and ritual.
Exploring them, we find them unlocked through an intimate relationship with our
Saviour and King, Firstborn Son of our Heavenly Papa God, as revealed to us by
Holy Spirit. Here unashamedly viewed through faith and trust in Mighty King
Jesus, Mashiach, the Anointed One, is pain, hurt and grief, side by side with
fire, passion, love, thanks, praise and worship. As you put your hope and faith
in Him, may you find here your heart's cries to our High King of Heaven and
Earth.

Jim Edwards is a passionate lover
of Jesus, living on the South Coast of the UK, with his wife Val. This year
with their four amazing children they celebrate 40 years of marriage together.
'Living and Breathing the Psalms' is his third published book, with more to
follow. His heart is to peel back religious tradition, to reveal the Mighty,
Powerful, live and heart changing Love of Jesus, in fresh ways, with fresh
language for today. Repeated visits to the USA and to Bethel Church in Redding,
over the last 9 years, have been a source of much encouragement and
inspiration.

Lisa’s review:

Truly unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,
Edwards’s passionate exploration of the Psalms for contemporary people of faith
will refresh every reader with his heartfelt reframing. Not a rewrite, not a
paraphrase, not an attempt to simply update language, the author invites you to
pray with him through the Psalms, using the name of Christ freely where the original
authors back to Moses, David, and Asaph and others, would have, had they
physically walked alongside of Him.

I was admittedly unsure of what
the author’s goal was all about until I began to read with him, for that’s what
readers have to do—read with him—in order to appreciate the rendering. Living
and Breathing the Psalms is a prayer walk, a cry, a jump of joy and leap of
faith, but most of all, a call to worship in a way that has never had to change
because we worship an unchanging and unchangeable God. The text is rich with
usually frowned upon devices such as ALL CAPs, multiple exclamations and plenty
of “Yeah!” that cannot contain the typed letters.

From Edwards’s query in Psalm 8, “When
I look up at the night sky and see the amazing Hubble telescope pictures of
galaxies so distant it hurts my brain to comprehend—I wonder at YOU! Did You
throw them into space or set each of them in their place? If You planned the
details of all of these billions of stars, how come You even spare a thought
for each one of us?” to the jazzy upbeat of Psalm 45, “I’m cookin’ today! I’m
bubbling over with some amazing ideas for a new song of praise to our wonderful
King Jesus” to unadulterated joy in Psalm 135, “Oh, but You who love Jesus—give
me a ‘J!’” readers will find new reasons to fall in love with the Psalms all
over again.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Every year, with the arrival of terrible and threatening
hurricanes to the Caribbean, I lose both sleep and joy, fearing that the strong
winds might destroy the trees that my father planted almost forty years ago.
Already some have been blown down, but others remain, and these trees are among
my fondest memories of him. I can recall many occasions when my mother and I
were by the door, praying, while the destructive winds outside continued to
roar.

When I think of such things, I feel that our faith is like those trees,
nurtured by other people. At the same time, new trees are starting to grow,
like fresh ideals and good deeds, and perhaps some of these spring up from the
seeds that have been stored in those old, demolished trees.

The most important thing in my book is always to discover a new way to rescue
faith in the midst of the pain that exists all around.

It’s refreshing and energizing to read about the development
of a faith life from a different perspective, one that comes from a different
culture in another arena. I am too comfortable in my lifestyle and I need to
step outside that zone on occasion to truly appreciate what I have been given.

Roche’s joy, fear, and desire to grow and practice his faith
glow from the pages. Told through anecdotes, personal revelation, stories of
meeting people on the streets where they are, and reflections on Bible verses
and stories, such as that of Job (Our Job does not have a story to be told
because we spend all day long rejecting it.), The Lighthouse of Asaph will give
Christian readers pause. Am I living to my potential where I am, here and now?
Roche will help you answer that question as you walk with him in his life as a
Cuban Christian living in a land that long despaired yet retained pockets of
joy.

About the Author

Roberto Ornan Roche, a Christian writer from Cuba, is an
internationally recognized author with stories published in English and
Spanish. His book, A Lighthouse of Asaph, is a story collection capturing the
emotions and longings of a Cuban heart. The stories were written in an attempt
to reconcile the author’s life of faith with a society that discourages it.
Born out of fear and sadness, sadness from praying for dreams that were never
realized, A Lighthouse of Asaph is a book to encourage you and help you find
meaning in your circumstances.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

He stirred a cup of
steaming coffee, and then handed it to me. When my hands wrapped around the
warm ceramic mug, he leaned down and gently pressed his lips to my forehead. I
closed my eyes, grateful for his touch.

“I love you,” he
said, while taking me by the shoulders and gently pulling me into the circle of
his arms. I laid my head against his chest and felt its rise and fall.

“Go,” I whispered.
“I’m going to take a walk and look at the gardens.”

He rubbed my back
in wide slow circles.

“I’m grateful she
died in the spring,” I said.

“I know,” he said.
“I won’t be long. I imagine I’ll find you sitting under the magnolia when I
return.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’ll join you
there,” he said.

I followed him out
onto the porch and watched him walk to the truck, stop, and turn. He fixed his
gaze on me, and I knew he didn’t want to leave. I smiled then, and he nodded
before getting in and backing down the driveway. He waved, and something about
his smile and the gentle blue of the sky strengthened my heart. I watched him
disappear down the street before I turned and walked back inside.

Yesterday we buried
the woman who raised me, tethering my heartstrings to both heaven and earth.
Full of simple goodness, her love never let me go. She wanted to be buried next
to her husband, and so she is, and before we lowered her body into the red
Georgia clay, we read the 23rd Psalm. The words flowed like a
soothing balm.

Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever.

This morning the
words are whispering to my soul, and I can’t help remembering.

Rose Chandler Johnson's award-winning devotional journal, God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea: Experiencing God in the Midst of Everyday Moments released in July 2013 from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. Her devotions, poems, short stories and articles have appeared in numerous publications over the years. My Father' House is Rose's first novel. Rose has lived near Augusta, GA for the last twenty-nine years. For the last twenty plus years, Rose has been a French and English teacher. Currently she is an adjunct English instructor at a technical college. Rose enjoys baking, gardening, and spending time with her six children and their families. Another devotional is in the works and another Southern lit novel.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

I (Lorilyn Roberts) have known Sana Edoja for several years and am glad she wrote her memoir to help others. Memoirs are powerful, and I look forward to reading hers. I hope you enjoy this short excerpt.

STRUGGLES

Going through tunnels,

I can’t see the light.

Surrounded by darkness,

who will save me?

Who will say,

This is the way; walk in it?

Who will hold my hand

to tame my fear?

Who will even say?

It’s over. I am here,

to be your guide.

From beginning to end,

Earth to Heaven.

I will never leave you, nor forsake you!

Island of plenitude,

Encounter with the light

is what I desire

most in my life.

The fields are white to be ripe.

My Savior has come.

My struggles are over.

I was born into
a modest family in France. My dad is French. He is a non-practicing Catholic.
He was baptized as a baby and received his First Holy Communion. Catholicism
was practiced as my grandfather was Protestant, and my grandmother was a
non-practicing Catholic. My grandmother was very strict; when her children
misbehaved she used a whip. They lived in the countryside near a small village
called “Saint-Léger.” My dad and his siblings dropped out of school at the age
of 12 to work in the fields to earn wages for the family.

A few years
later, my dad travelled to Morocco where he met my mum; they married and moved
to France. They lived in Toulouse, the south of France where my dad worked as a
builder. Later on, he trained to become a quantity surveyor to provide for our
family. My dad was exhausted when he came home from work and barely spent time
with us.

I was the eldest
of five children (three girls and two boys). He always wanted to watch the news
in silence on TV before going to bed. He would only intervene in our upbringing
if we needed to be disciplined. He rarely asked us questions about school or
life. On a few occasions, he would take us on bike rides and to the fair, but
he usually only played with us on Christmas Day. He never had time to develop a
proper relationship with his children. I saw him just as a disciplinarian. My
parents usually sent us to summer camps on holidays.

My mum had been
a primary school teacher in Morocco who taught nine and ten year olds. She had
four brothers. Her dad worked in a factory, and her mum raised the kids at
home. Her father was also a disciplinarian. Her younger brother used to
misbehave. One day, her dad hit him on the arm so strongly causing him to
bleed. The wound became infected, and he died at a very young age.

My mum’s uncle controlled
the family’s decisions. Children had to financially support their family. My
mum’s wages were shared between family members. She wanted to work in research
labs, but her family forced her to become a teacher. Her uncle was a tailor; he
made the uniforms for the Moroccan army. He made my grandma sew a few uniforms,
but he hardly paid her. My mum had to dress poorly because she had to give most
of her wages to her family.

This
caused strife in the family. Her father performed a lot of Moslem rituals in
order to please his Moslem god. My mum described a family environment of
strife, poverty, violence, oppression, greed, stinginess, and unhappiness due
to money issues. My mum’s dad used to beat his children when they misbehaved.

I concluded that there was a lot of
unhappiness, poverty, and violence in my dad’s and my mum’s families. I now
understand why my siblings and I had a harsh upbringing.

From a very young age, I longed for a better
world, one filled with angels, peace, and love. Deep inside, I always knew that
Heaven might be somewhere, and I wondered how to reach it. I believed in a
better life after death, free from oppression, fear and suffering.

Disappointed by
the world around me, I desperately needed to find meaning and decided to search
for the truth. I tried all sorts of things to make my life better. I went as
far as doing things like making a wish when losing an eyelash, reading my
horoscope, and visiting fortune-tellers. The predictions turned out to be all
lies—not one of them has come to pass. The most amazing thing is that none of
these practices were able to tell me that I would one day have a personal
encounter with the God, who would give meaning to my life.

I remember
coming back from school, completely depressed. I had enough of my family and
the cruelty at the hands of my classmates. I lay on my bed, crying and thinking
about going to a better world with angels. I wanted my life to end on that day.
I managed to pull myself together when my sisters came home from school.

I enjoyed scaring my sisters and brothers
by hiding in their cupboard. One day I even scared my dad by hiding in the dark
as he came back from work. He didn’t find it very funny and scolded me by
telling me it was very dangerous, and that I could cause somebody to have a
heart attack. Scaring my family was a way to bring a bit of fun in my life, to
forget my own problems.

One day, I hid
in my bedroom cupboard for a game of hide and seek. Unfortunately, my dad saw
the door of the cupboard wasn’t locked properly, and turned the key to lock it.
I’m grateful that my sisters came home. As I shouted for help, my sisters heard
me and opened the door. Maybe I was looking for help and didn’t really want to
die.I enrolled at a
university in France in business administration, which I found extremely boring
and a waste of time. I chose this path for the sake of achieving something, but
did not really know what I wanted. Most of the things I had wished for, such as
a career, a boyfriend, a loving home, and friends, had not happened. I was so
unhappy that I often thought about committing suicide. Life at home was very
tense because my parents were always arguing. I had to find a way to get away
from my depressing life.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The Bible is full of the
impossible. The parting of the Red Sea. The crumbling of Jericho's walls. Jesus
walking on the water. A multitude being fed with one boy's lunch. A Father
sacrificing His own Son for fallen mankind. And now, Christian author and Bible
teacher, Dana Rongione, wants to take you on a tour to explore what God has
done, what He's capable of doing, and how He works in the lives of His children.

Each chapter of He's Still Working
Miracles highlights a story in the New Testament where an ordinary person met
an extraordinary God and gives application of how these encounters relate to
your own life and circumstances.

You are not alone in your struggles.
You don't have to face your heartaches alone. Call out to the One who cares.
The One who can make a difference. The one and only God of possibilities.

In this book, you will:

·Learn to identify miracles in your own life.

·Understand how to apply the principles of
Biblical miracles to specific circumstances that the Bible doesn't address.

When you hear tales of miracles, which ones do you hear most often? Water into wine? Healing of the blind and the lame? The raising of Lazarus? Feeding of the 5,000? Walking on the water? Let's face it, when it comes to miracles, there is certainly no shortage in the Bible. Story after story. Verse after verse.

But I often wonder how many miracles are there that we pass right over. I can personally think of one that I missed for years and years. In my defense, this miracle follows on the heels of another miracle, so I think that for many years I was so enthralled with the one that I didn't even notice the other. Look with me at John 21:3-11.

Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.

As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

I believe we're all familiar with this miraculous catch of fish. The disciples fished all night (the time when fishing is best) and caught nothing. Jesus gives a simple command, and boom, instant fish. The interesting part is that within that miracle is another miracle that teaches precious truths that we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

In verse 6, the Bible tells us that the disciples were not able to draw up the net because it was so full and heavy. To further illustrate the point, it goes on to tell us that they had to drag the net alongside the boat. According to verse 2 of this same passage, there were seven disciples aboard the ship. Seven strong men could not lift the nets out of the water. Pretty clear picture, huh?

But did you notice that when Jesus directed Peter to bring in the fish they had caught, the Bible says, "Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes."

Simon Peter, one man. Not all the disciples. Not a few of the disciples. Not Jesus, the God-man. No, just Peter. In that moment, Peter could do what the seven of them could not do earlier. How is that possible? Well, I think there are a couple of answers to that question.

First, Peter was out fishing in his own strength. He had given up on the Lord. His return to his job as a fishermen was basically his saying, "Well, that fisher of men thing didn't work out like I planned, so I'll just go back to what I know." But that wasn't where God wanted Him. I think Jesus intended to show Peter (and us) that when we act in our own strength, our efforts are in vain.

Second, I think Jesus was reminding us all that He will give strength when strength is needed. In the midst of the most dire circumstances, Jesus can give strength to move mountains. If God calls us to do something, He will always equip us with what we need to accomplish the task. No matter how small or great the task may seem, His strength is always sufficient.

Another interesting thing I see in this overlooked miracle is Peter's response to the Lord's command. We all know Peter, right? The one who's always sticking his foot in his mouth. The one who always has something to say. That's the Peter we know, but this Peter has changed. When Jesus gave him instructions, Peter obeyed. He didn't comment. He didn't question. He didn't complain that it was impossible task. According to the Bible, he didn't even give it a thought. Jesus said to do it, so Peter did it. I believe there was no doubt in his mind and heart that he could do what the Lord had asked of him.

How much better off would we be if we would learn the lessons taught within this miracle? (1) Stop acting in our own strength, and walk in His strength instead. (2) Where God guides, He provides. If He's called us to do something, He'll give us everything we need to accomplish the task. (3) When God gives us instructions, follow them without question or complaint, believing that with Christ all things are possible.

*~*~*~*

About the Author:

Dana Rongione is
the author of several Christian books, including the highly-praised Giggles and
Grace devotional series for women.A
dedicated wife and doggie “mom,” Dana lives in Greenville, SC, where she spends
her days writing and reaching out to the hurting and discouraged.Connect with her at DanaRongione.com,
and be sure to sign up for her daily devotions.